Bobby Rush

Bobby Rush (23 November 1946-) was a member of the US House of Representatives (D-IL 1) from 3 January 1993, succeeding Charles Hayes.

Biography
Bobby Rush was born in Albany, Georgia in 1946, and his family moved to Chicago, Illinois during the Great Migration. He served in the US Army from 1963 to 1968, when he joined SNCC. In 1968, he went AWOL from the Army and co-founded the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party. He worked in civil disobedience campaigns in the American South during the Civil Rights movement, and he served as Defense Minister of the Illinois Black Panthers during the late 1960s. After Fred Hampton was murdered by the police, Rush became acting chairman of the Illinois Panthers, and he left the Panthers in 1974 after they began to glorify thuggery and drugs. In 1974, he failed in his attempt to run for the Chicago City Council, but he won in 1983, serving as a member of the City Council from the 2nd Ward from 1983 to 1993. In 1992, he was elected to the US House of Representatives, representing a predominantly-African-American district. He was also a supporter of Barack Obama during the 2008 presidential election, having defeated him in the 2000 congressional primary; he was the only politician to defeat Obama in an election.